Data integrity matters: Why Microsoft Dynamics CRM users count on accurate data

When it comes to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, data integrity can affect adoption, performance, development and competitive advantage. And it is just as much about what's not present in the data as what is present, said Mike Olean CRM & Business Development Manager, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP.

"You should think about data integrity as a process and not a thing," Olean told members of CRMUG. "Data integrity is not a one-and-done deal. It's a very fluid process and it takes place across the entire lifecycle of your data regardless of what you do and in what industry you do it."

The golden rule in data integrity is duplicate avoidance, Olean said.

"When we talk about data integrity a lot of times, duplicates creep to the top of that list as issues," Olean said. "And if you don't nip the processes and practices that are causing the duplication in the bud early, then it's going to become a pervasive problem throughout your organization. This is as much about the people-centric business process as it is about a piece of data or a chunk. The technical piece of CRM is great and it can do a lot of things for you but there's always that people component of it that you have to translate and monitor and over see and QC."

Bad data also breeds inefficiency and causes executives to make the wrong decisions.

"Bad data begets bad data," he said. "Bad data affects marketing as well as sales. You can't escape it if your company leverages the system and had made the investment."

There are certain measures to distinguish to help companies distinguish between good versus bad data.

"If you're ...